


Colors Of Despair

by DanganStrayDogs



Category: Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Despair, Despair arc onwards, F/M, Mitarai POV, POV Third Person, Soulmates au where you see the world in black and white until you meet your soulmate, and you stop seeing colors when they die, i'm sorry but you must suffer, mitarai is my son, so here, yeah so i decided the enoshitarai tag didn't have enough content in it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-14
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-10-18 19:33:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10623666
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DanganStrayDogs/pseuds/DanganStrayDogs
Summary: Ryouta Mitarai never believed he'd find a soulmate. Until he met her.





	1. Chapter One: Meeting The Girl With The Beautiful, Piercing Blue Eyes

**Author's Note:**

> Heeyy... thanks for giving this story a shot!  
> So this story takes place in Despair arc and follows along the story from there. This does take place in an AU where you cannot see any colors besides black and white until you meet your Soulmate, and the first color you see is the color of their eyes. But if your soulmate dies, then you lose the ability to see all of the colors, and the world goes back to being black and white.

Ryouta let out a weak cough as he approached the hospital. The Impostor had been right to tell him to go there, he was too malnourished to work on his anime properly. But still, that fact didn't hinder his dread as he continued to walk forward. His hands itched to be drawing, animating, creating. His mind drifted to everything he could be doing at that moment, and he shifted his hands deeper into his uniform pockets.

 

He continued walking, not thinking to pay much attention to his surroundings. He felt the soft sensation of long hair brush past his shoulder as someone walked past him. They had probably come from the hospital, as well, but Ryouta didn't think much of it.

 

Suddenly, a firm hand grasped his shoulder.

 

“Uwah!” Ryouta gasped as he was forcefully turned around to face whoever had pulled on his shoulder.

 

From a quick glance, he saw she was a girl. More than a few centimeters taller than him, with long, light hair. Her hair was tied up, but still fell down loosely behind her. She was very pretty, he had to admit.

 

But then, Ryouta's eyes met hers, and the world seemed to burst and flash in his vision. Suddenly, he saw the world in a way he'd never seen before. Staring directly in her eyes, he realized he could finally see the colors everyone had spoken so fondly of.

 

When he was young, his mother had told Ryouta of the superstition that everyone is born without the ability to see colors. When he'd asked what colors were, all she could tell him was that they gave life to the smallest of things and brightened the world with hues, tints, and shades of the most wonderful varieties. She then proceeded to explain that the first color you will ever see is the color of your soulmates' eyes, when you see them for the first time, and then the world will unveil its true form to you. At the time, Ryouta loved this sentiment. He'd wanted so desperately to see this wonderful thing called color, and meet the wonderful person who'd grant him access to that world, and live happily ever after together in that place.

 

But sadly, as he'd grown older, and his world remained as dull as normal, he'd eventually lost interest in the whole thing. Finding his soulmate seemed impossible, and he couldn't be bothered to dream or fantasize about meeting them anymore. The world wouldn't wait for him, and he stopped dreaming to keep up with it.

 

But now, here he was. His mother had been right. The first color he'd ever seen was the piercing blue of this girl's irises. The girl stared at him piercingly, gripping his scarf tightly and keeping it drawn towards her.

 

“W-what-” Ryouta's cheeks flushed, and he could barely speak. His mind spun as everything in peripheral vision flared into colors he didn't know he knew the names for. It was all happening so fast, he almost didn't know how to react.

 

“Who are you?” The blonde girl asked, her voice blank, but Ryouta saw that all of her attention was on him. So much so that the simple question almost came out as a demand. Did she see all the colors he did, he wondered?

 

“um... R-Ryouta Mitarai.” He managed to speak, but it came out as a stammer.

 

The girl's hyper-focused gaze didn't waver. She kept staring at him, for what felt much longer than it actually was.

 

“Umm...” Ryouta stumbled over his words again, wanting to say something, but having no clue what. What does one even say in situations like this?

 

The girl suddenly burst into a cheerful giggle, leaped forward and hugged him.

 

Ryouta's blush reddened as the girl's embrace jolted them both back and forward. “Wait, w-what are you-”

 

“I don't know!” The girl exclaimed cheerfully. “I don't know, but this is what I'm telling myself,” She pulled away from the hug, holding on to Ryouta's arms. Her bright, excited eyes and dazzling smile made Ryouta feel as though his heart skipped a beat. “This must be yet another fateful encounter!”

 

Fateful encounter...? That _had_ to mean she saw the colors too, right?

 

\---

 

Her name was Junko Enoshima. She had a sister named Mukuro. She absolutely loved the anime he was creating, and she wanted to help him change the world. Admittedly, Ryouta hadn't expected her of all people to be his soulmate, but from his meeting with her, she seemed to be just as interested in Ryouta as he was interested in her. She was the Super High School Level Fashionista, and she was attending Hope's Peak Academy in the 78th class.

 

The ability to finally see all of the colors the world had to offer to him only inspired Ryouta to animate more. He wanted to add every color he could find, and make it all look beautiful. It was all thanks to Junko, his anime was going to be even more beautiful than he'd ever hoped.

 

Strangely, though, she'd never really brought up the topic of whether or not she could see colors yet. Ryouta tried not to think to much about it, mainly because he himself was all too nervous to bring it up to her.

 

But she'd done so much for him already, with talking to the trustees of Hope's Peak and getting him a new work-space with new, amazing equipment, bringing him meals and energy drinks, and sometimes even keeping him company while he worked on the anime.

 

Today was one of those days where she had decided to hang around his room. While he worked, she chatting with him occasionally, and even complimented him on how far he'd gotten in the anime. Each compliment made Ryouta's heart bubble with joy, and his cheeks flush with embarrassment. Not many people could warrant such reactions out of him, or make him feel so happy, but Junko was different from them all. She was his soulmate, right?

 

“Hey, Ryouta...?” Junko spoke, her voice sounding a bit sluggish.

 

“Yeah?” Ryouta put down his pen and turned around to look at her.

 

She sat on the left side of his new desk, legs crossed, staring at him intently. “Ryouta... You've been working for a while now...” Junko spoke slowly. “Why not take a little break?”

 

Something in her tone made him shudder a bit. But not in a bad way.

 

“O-Okay... I-if you s-say so.” Ryouta stammered out the words, turning back to his project to save his progress.

 

Junko stood up and suddenly grabbed the back of his chair, spinning it around to make Ryouta face her.

 

“Ack! Junko, what are you-” Ryouta yelped in surprise, but his voice suddenly cracked when he saw how close Junko's face was to his.

 

“Ryouta...” Again, the way she said his name made him shiver.

 

“Umm...w-what...?” He didn't even know what he wanted to say. Ryouta's heart was pounding in his chest, and his mind was racing, even though he couldn't form any coherent thoughts. Actually, there were a few.

 

_What is she doing...?_

 

_Why is my heart beating so fast..?_

 

_…_

 

_She looks really pretty..._

 

Just as the thoughtformed itself, Junko lowered herself slowly to sit on Ryouta's lap. She tilted her head and leaned closer to his, and only stopped until their faces were mere centimeters apart. He felt her breath against his sweaty skin, and stared into her piercing blue eyes. He really loved the color of her eyes.

 

For a few seconds, nothing happened.

 

But then, almost as if his body moved on his own, Ryouta leaned in closer to her face. And at the same time, Junko leaned in as well, and their lips met in the middle.

 

\---

 


	2. Chapter Two: Escaping The One He Knew He Could Never Escape

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY so i was originally going to write the scene where Junko convinces him to help with the brainwashing video, but i decided it would all flow better if i just timeskipped to the part where Junko confronts Ryouta on the bridge. the brainwashing video part is referenced, though. 
> 
> so, I hope you enjoy! thanks for reading so far!

Ryouta ran, faster and faster. His lungs cried for air, and he heaved it in and out. It was raining, the sky was pouring its droplets mercilessly. His pursuers, blank-faced, brainwashed students. There were so many, and they were catching up with him. His attempt at escaping his pursuers let him to a bridge that shaped itself into a circle in its median over a small lake.

 

Suddenly, he tripped. Ryouta cried out in pain as he stumbled around on the wet stone of the bridge. Whimpering in pain, he lifted his head and opened his eyes, only to scream and scramble into a sitting up position when he saw all of the students who'd been chasing him now surrounded him.

 

“Wh-Who are you people?” Ryouta whimpered, trembling in fear.

 

“Aw, don't pull a sudden vanishing act like that!”

 

It was her. That terrifyingly innocent tone of voice, along with her feigned cutesy concern. Ryouta knew now, it hid the most malicious of intents.

 

“Junko...” Ryouta turned around to face where her voice had come from, pure fear and terror coursing through his veins.

 

She approached him with two students behind her, both holding umbrellas over her head. How could she look so normal, so casual? After everything she'd done, everything she planned to do?

 

“I wanted to say goodbye, ya'know?” She spoke in a doting, adoring tone, as she looked down upon him.

 

“G-Goodbye...?” He stuttered the words out. Oh god, this was it, wasn't it? She was finally going to kill him.

 

She giggled a bit and bent down to face him. “Ah, if you think you're going to get killed, you're wrong!”

 

_She wasn't planning on killing me? Then why is she here?_

 

She continued to speak. “I just came to say goodbye, in the normal sense.” She paused, before closing her eyes and smiling brightly. “Thanks for everything. Thanks to you, my plan's going super smooth now!”

 

“Your plan?” Ryouta calmed down a bit when she revealed she wasn't going to kill him, and was now confused as to what she meant about her plan.

 

She stood up again, and explained cheerfully. “Yeah! The video I had you help me with. The completed version of that. I'm going to make your entire class watch it now!”

 

Ryouta's eyes widened. _What?_

 

“Imagine it...” He felt himself trembling again.

 

“All because of you, your classmates will fall into a deep, deep despair!” She clapped her hands together and gazed upwards, as if to fantasize it all. Ryouta felt his face contort in horror

 

She rubbed her cheeks excitedly.“They'll become people who think of nothing but plunging this world into despair...” Ryouta felt sick at her words, not to mention progressively more and more horrified as she continued.

 

She suddenly leaned in close to his face, and he instinctively leaned backwards to try to get away. “-The Super High School Level Despairs!”

 

She closed her eyes and smiled brightly. “What do you think?” But before he could respond, she pulled away and spun around, standing up and holding her hands up to the sky.

 

_“Isn't it awesomely despairful?!”_ Junko squealed joyfully.

 

“S-Stop it!” Ryouta exclaimed, leaning forward and placing his hands in front of him on the cold stone of the bridge. “Those techniques are for making the world into a better place!” He spoke desperately. But then, Ryouta felt himself curling up and clutching his head. “But... You would use them for something like despair...” He felt himself begin to sob. How pathetic of him.

 

Juno knew it, too. “There it is!” She laughed mockingly. “After all your collaboration, you'd go play the victim in the end!”

 

“I... I was b-being threatened...” It's so pathetic.

 

“Oh, as if _that_ was the only reason, Ryouta!” She teased.

 

No. It was. Stop it.

 

“I think you and I both know there's more to the story.” Junko pressed.

 

“I bet you couldn't say no to me even if you tried!” Junko giggled. “Because deep, deep inside yourself, there's a little piece of you that knows I'm your soulmate, and still believes in me.” Ryouta's mind raced. No. it's not true. Never. I was being threatened. “I bet that little part of you still wants to think I'm that nice little girl you met at the hospital.”

 

Stop talking. Stop talking. stoptalkingstoptalkingstoptalking st optalk i ng STOPnonono shutupshutupS hutupstopit.

 

“But c'mon, Ryouta, cutie, one day you're going to accept that the girl who you loved never was there.” Her cheerful, teasing tone of voice changed to one of complete madness. _“And on that day, you will feel so much despair, I can only fantasize that beautiful rush of ecstasy!”_ Junko shrieked in delight.

 

“But you see, that's all the more reason to keep you alive.” Junko leaned in closer to Ryouta's face, humming softly. Ryouta couldn't even move, lest try to move away from her. “My goal is to spread the wonder of despair. And who better to give the worst despair of them all to the one most important to me... My soulmate!”

 

“You mean the world to me, Ryouta. You really do.” Junko murmured softly in his ear. He couldn't hear anything but her loving tone of voice. “You helped me see the world for how it really is, and you'll be the one who gave me the ability to stain this world with the colors of Despair! With that lovely video, but also your precious devotion to the one you're _supposed_ to love and be with for the rest of your life, me, your soulmate.” She paused, and sighed contentedly. “You've given me so much amazing despair, though we may part ways now, I'll love you forever.”

 

_She'll love me forever?! No. No. No. I need to run. I need to get away._

 

Ryouta suddenly let out a pent-up scream. “Y-You're insane! I don't want this!” He kicked her away, scrambling to his feet to try to escape.

 

“Aw, he doesn't love me...” Junko suddenly plastered a depressed, dejected look on her face. “Well, not like it matters.” She went back to normal. “No one's stopping you from leaving, cutie! If you run now, you might make it out of this alive.” She lifted her hand and waved dramatically as Ryouta began to slip over himself trying to stand up to run away.

 

As he began running, he heard that voice calling to him. “Farewell, Ryouta Mitarai! Be sure to tune into the broadcast when it finally airs! You just might get to see me again, cutie!” Then, she began to laugh.

 

As desperately as he tried to flush out her voice and ignore it, Ryouta knew deep inside of himself that he'd never be able to escape her.

 

Junko Enoshima's voice would haunt him for the rest of his life.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i promise i love ryouta i really do
> 
> (FOR ALL YOU WHO'VE READ DANGANRONPA ZERO)  
> so, in the canon of this story, Junko and Matsuda were a thing. Junko really did love him, too, but another reason she stayed with him and all that was because it brought her despair to love someone that much knowing that he wasnt actually her soulmate. doesnt that sound like a very junko-esque thing to do?


End file.
